Treatment of textile materials



ments or fibers; maysbejroned safelyat temperatures up-to about 220 C. while non-thermoplastic materials such Patented Nov. 22,1949

TREATMENT OF. TEXTILE MATERIALS GamiIIe'DreyfuS, New'YorleNz, Y.,,-and George; W.

Seymour and- George C. Ward, Cumberland, Mdx, assignors to Celanese Corporation. of). America; azcomoration of Delaware,

1T0. Drawing. Application July 11, 1945, SerialiNo. 604,502

izfllaimsx. (01.,117-138):

This invention relates tmthetreatment oftex tile materials and relates more particularly to a novel process for the treatment of textilematerials in fabric form made of or containing filaments or fibers of a non-thermoplastic character' to effect a substantial improvement in the heat resistance andironing qualities of 'said textile, materials;

An object of thisinventionistoprovide an improved process for the treatment of textile materials having a' basisofnow-thermoplastic artificial or naturally-occurring filaments or" fibers to impart'improved ironing and heat resisting qualities thereto;

Another obj ect of thisinvention is'to raise the safe-ironing temperature of non-thermoplastic textile materials whereby scorching or other:undesirable effects produced by the-- application of too hot an iron theretomay-be substantially eliminated.

7 other objects of'this invention willappear from the following detailed description".-

Fabrics wovenoi yarnshaving a basis of filaments or fibers, ofnonrthe tmoplastic naturallyoccurring-or'artificial. materials may be ironed at temperatures substantially higher than textile materials havin a basis-of; thermoplastic fila- Thus, thermoplastic materials as cotton, forexample, may-, basafely; ironed at temperatures up to about 240 to 250 C. While there is..no danger of melting: or coalescing the non-thermoplastic textile materials when ironed at temperaturesappreciably above 250 0., the materials; may be scorchedwithi the result that the strength and, appearance oi: said materials are permanently impaired. The elimination of scorching or other undesirable: effect due to the use of. excessively. high ironing temperatnres by treating said materials seas tocraisesubstantially the temperature at which ironing of these materials may be safely conducted' would be highly'ad vantageous.

We have'nowsfoundthat the resistappepf, fabrics made of or containing--- non-thermoplastic textile materials to scorching at higher ironing temperatures may be substantially increased by subjecting said materials to treatment with an aqueous solution of boric acid.

The aqueous boric acid solution employed may contain from 1 to 15% by weight of boric acid ing the textile material in said solution. Any

sired: to be pemnitteda to.- remain on the; textile material may be removed bypassing theztreatedz material through squeeze rolls and the textile material, with the desired: quantity: of boric. acid remaining thereon, may thenbeidried in any convenient manner. The drying maybe effected by passing the fabric through a suitable chamber through'which the heated air at a temperature of to C. is circulated or by passing: the fabric over heated drums of cans: In this way; from 1 to 15% by weight of boricacid on the weight of the fabric undergoing treatment may be uniformly applied thereto.

After drying, the. fabricis then preferably subjected to hot calendering or mangling. or decatizing. When the fabric. is subjected. to. mangling or hot, calendering, temperatures, of '110? to CI and pressures of 2000 to 8000 pounds, per square inch: are usually employed.

The. decatizing treatment. that may; be. used consists; in winding the fabric on to; a perforated metal: drum with a heavy cotton blanket-or apron so-that a layer of the cottoniblanket. or apron a1;- ternates with each layer; ofthefabric. Steam: at a pressure of the order of 10 poundsipen' square inch or more; is: then, passed; through; the fabric for; 3 to, 5 minutes,.whereby; the temperature of. the fabriois rais ed;to:95 to 11090;, thereuponthe steam isshut off and. vacuum is applied" to -cool the fabric and remove: any condensed water present.

Fabrics made of or containing non-thermoplastic filaments or fibers and treatedin-accordance with our novel processmay then be ironed at-substantially increased temperatures ascom-. pared to untreated fabrics without undergoing scorching 'or changesdetrimentall'y afiecting the fabrics undergoing ironing.

As examples of, non-thermoplastic textilematerialsofwhichthe 'iabrics treatediinaccordance withour novel process may be formed, there may be mentioned cotton, wool; regenerated cellulose prepared by the ,viscose, process as,wellliasregenerated cellulose. obtained .by the. saponificationof filaments or fibers having a basis of cellulose acetate or other organic derivative of cellulose especially strong yarns made by the saponification of yarns of cellulose acetate that have been stretched while in a softened condition. The fabric treated may contain two or more of any of the above non-thermoplastic fibers.

In order further to illustrate our invention but without being limited thereto the following exboric acid solution in excess of the amount de- 55 amples are given:

Example I A fabric of white cotton cheesecloth is padded with a 5% aqueous boric acid solution at a temperature of 38 C., the fabric being permitted to retain about 100% by weight of the solution. The padded fabric is then dried with heated air at a temperature of 110 C. in a suitable drying chamber and then decatized. When the treated fabric is subjected to the action of a stationary hand iron at a temperature of 280 C. for seconds, the material remains entirely unaffected, while an untreated cotton material subjected to the same test scorches with the production of a deep brown color where the material was in contact with the heated surface of the iron.

Example II A fabric woven of strong regenerated cellulose yarns prepared by completely saponifying cellulose acetate yarns that have been stretched while in a softened state with a suitable saponifying agent is padded with a 5% aqueous solution of boric acid at 38 C. and the fabric is allowed to retain 100% by weight of the solution. The fabric is then dried with air heated at about 100 C. and decatized. When the treated fabric is subjected to the 10 second stationary iron test, the testing iron being at a temperature of 270 C., no change in the physical appearance of the fabric tested is observed as a result of this test, while untreated fabric undergoing this test becomes quite scorched at the point of contact with the iron.

Example III A taffeta fabric woven of regenerated cellulose yarns prepared by the viscose process is padded with a 5% aqueous solution of boric acid at 38 C. The fabric is allowed to retain 100% by weight of the solution and is then dried with air heated at 100 C. and decatized. When a hand iron heated to 240 C. is allowed to stand on a treated fabric for 10 seconds, no change in the physical appearance of the fabric is observed. The untreated fabric undergoing this test becomes noticeably scorched.

Other methods of applying the boric acid may be used. Thus garments made of fabrics comprising a non-thermoplastic fiber, after they are laundered either at home or in commercial laundries, may be given a final rinse in boric acid solution and then subjected to hydro-extracting or vacuum-extracting and then mangled. Thereupon the garments may be ironed with a quite hot iron without any danger of scorching.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having described our invention what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Process for improving the ironing and heat resisting properties of textile materials comprising filaments and fibers having a basis of a nonthermoplastic textile material, which comprises 4 applying a solution of boric acid to said materials. drying the treated materials and then subjecting them to a heat treatment at a temperature of at least C. under a pressure at least 2000 lbs. per square inch.

2. Process for improving the ironing and heatresisting properties of textile materials comprising filaments and fibers having a basis of a nonthermoplastic textile material, which comprises applying a 1 to 15% aqueous solution of boric acid to said materials, drying the treated materials and then subjecting the dried materials to a heat treatment at a. temperature of 110 to C. and a pressure of 2000 to 8000 pounds per square inch.

3. Process for improving the ironing and heat resisting properties of textile materials comprising filaments and fibers having a basis of cotton, which comprises applying a 1 to 15% aqueous solution of boric acid to said materials, drying the treated materials and then subjecting the dried materials to a heat treatment at a temperature of 110 to 150 C. and a pressure of 2000 to 8000 pounds per square inch.

4. Process for improving the ironing and heatresisting properties of textile materials comprising filaments and fibers having a basis of regenerated cellulose, which comprises applying a 1 to 15% aqueous solution of boric acid to said materials, drying the treated materials and then subjecting the dried materials to a heat treatment at a'temperature of 110 to 150 C. and a pressure of 2000 to 8000 pounds per square inch.

5. Process for improving the ironing and heatresisting properties of textile materials comprising filaments and fibers having a basis of wool, which comprises applying a 1 to 15% aqueous solution of boric acid to said materials, drying the treated materials and then subjecting the dried materials to a heat treatment at a temperature of 110 to 150 C. and a pressure of 2000 to 8000 pounds per square inch.

CAMILLE DREYF'US. GEORGE W. SEYMOUR. GEORGE C. WARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the OTHER REFERENCES Leatherman Farmers Bulletin No. 1786, U. S. Dept. Agriculture, Dec. 1937.

Tweedie et'al., American Dyestufi Reporter, pp. 427-428, Sept. 27, 1943. 

